November 6, 2007

I think I'm going to declare this an Althouse coffeehouse and let you guys take over for a while. I'm back in NYC after taking the red-eye from SF. The flight back wasn't 6-hours as it was flying there. It was only 4+ hours. I think maybe I caught 2 hours of sleep, but I have a 4 o'clock class, so I'm thinking: nap.

Talk about what you like but feel free to give me some vlog ideas. My MacBook camera healed itself somehow, and I'd like to do a vlog... if I can restore my weary self with a little sleep.

UPDATE: I got 2 more hours of sleep, so that makes 4 hours. I have this theory that if you just get 4 hours, you'll be okay. Also, I adjusted the time stamp on the previous post so this post would come out on top, since it was written after that one (which I started writing last night at SFO and couldn't finish before Delta called my zone). I have just one thing I really need to accomplish today — a class about Tarble's Case and Howlett v. Rose — that is, federal procedural law limits on state courts enforcing federal law.

"Danforth is the most interesting fedcourts case since the 80s." What originally drew you to want to teach Federal Courts - was the subject matter something that grabbed your attention when you took the class at lawschool, or was there some other motivation? After teaching it for twenty years, do you still find it as engaging as you first did? What's been the most revelatory or outstanding moment during that intellectual journey?

welcome back and too bad about the sleepooh did pogo say food fight...what i'm interested in is your reaction to the sf foodnot to mention the drink if you had anyparenthetically did you make it to wine country...also are there still lots of homeless peoplebuttered all over the streets of sfand do they make a messa cockroach might be interested in...thanks

ps--does anyone in california still drink chardonnay anymore...i've heard it's been demoted to the white wine for the hoi polloipinot grigio seems to be trendybut what would i know being an east coast cockroach and all

California whites are problematic. They're either fresh, flowery, and fruity (most of them), or fruitless, buttery, and oaky (chardonnay and sauvignon blanc). For drinking with, say broiled salmon, only the chard-type will do.

Grusinskaya: Oh Baron Flix, I am so weary, so weary, today and I must travel overnight in my coach and leave this wonderful hotel. So sad, so sad.Baron Felix von Geigern: But why must you leave so soon, my little éclair.Grusinskaya: I must return to my career, as a schoolmistress and harsh taskmaster in the vineyards of law. I must use my dainty feet to crush the grapes of constitutional theory so as to distill knowledge and create a piquent vintage of legal scholarship that educate the palates of even the most oafish buffons who are the so called scholars whose education I am unfortunately tasked with.......it is truly daunting.Baron Felix von Geigern: But you can leave that onerous task my little Sacher-Torte. Come with me and I will tell you of my twenty years of experience of in the family courts of the South Bronx, Mount Vernon and White Plains, where feminism has destroyed the family and prevented minority children from reaching their full potential as maids and coachman. Come and learn of the intervention of an overreaching government headed by raddled harridans who do not shave their misshapen limbs and take children from loving homes where they are learning their proper place in the world and putting them in foster homes where they imbibe such bosch as feminism and socialism. Come where the real legal grapes are crushed.Grusinskaya: I am sorry my dear Baron, but it does not seem very enticing. I must go to back to my simple life of terrorizing pimple faced undergradutes and publishing photo essays of grotesquely small dogs and refuse strewn in the sand. Look at my delightful portrait of a bowl of spaghetti that was spilled on the sands of Brighton Beach. I hope to come across some interesting driftwood or perhaps a dead chinese immigrant who might wash ashore after a failed immigration foray.Baron Felix von Geigern: But my little Kafenkantate, you must worry about your most personal and private needs. Who will tend your vortex? Who will keep it healthy, and pink, and properly exercised? Come and have coffee with me and I will tell of my vast experience in the art of the care and cosseting of such a succulent vortex. These strange and grotesque characters that you constantly correspond with have neither the talent nor the technique to keep your vortex happy and healthy as only I can. I, Baron Felix von Geigern say it, so it must be so.Grusinskaya: I am so sorry my dear Baron, but I can not have coffee with you. In fact I can not even correspond with you as you are much too verbose for my taste. I prefer my social intercourse to be pithy and to the point as I am too busy to dally with extended prelimaries. So I must decline your oh so persistent overtures.Baron Felix von Geigern: Lesbian. (Grand Hotel, 1932)

I'd like to know more about your extra large head and a vlog could add an interesting visual element to the description. Does it run in your family? Have you passed it on?Besides limiting your choices in purchasing hats, has it added any other complications to your life?

The 'roach says, talking about chardonnay: "i've heard it's been demoted to the white wine for the hoi polloipinot grigio seems to be trendybut what would i know being an east coast cockroach and all."

Please. The "east coast" thing is irrelevant -- there's not much difference in drinking wines between this coast and that one. As for the varieties of grapes you mention (and many more you don't), they all have their distinctive personalities but whether the wine made from any of them is any good is mostly a matter of the winemaker's skill. Whether you like the wine from any grape varietal is a function of (a) personal taste, (b) your experience (it's hard to prefer one wine or grape varietal over another unless you've sampled widely enough to have some base of comparison), and (c) what you're having with it (if anything).

And who can even figure out what's "trendy" in wines (or anything else), let alone care about it? Better to forget about what others say and start sampling different wines until you know enough about what you like to choose for yourself. It's not a spectator sport -- quite the opposite -- and no one worth bothering about is keeping score or collecting your empty bottles.

In a coffeehouse they were talkin' wineWhen a pogo stick yelled "Food Fight!"Then a German catamite (?) started pitchin' wooTo a sleepy soulful Russian blogostar. And the final word is that Pinot Noir Knocks the crap out of all other brews.

Ann, I would say that you can't blame a chap for trying, but in this instance, if you're referring to my 9:09 AM comment, I didn't ask for a law lecture, I asked a few open-ended questions about you, which would certainly seem like appropriate subject matter for a vlog. :)

All I need is a little Maddog to cleanse the palate. Of course I confine myself to only the grape flavor, none of these upstart trendy flavors for me. And I always try to let it age for a week at least.....

Dr. Otternshlang: Welcome home Gruinskaya, I hope you enjoyed your sojourn in the land of fruits and nuts. All remains the same here. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens.Grusinskaya: Yes it was a very strange trip indeed. A very persistent and verbose nobleman expressed interest in me in a flattering yet slightly frightening manner. I must confess that I am non-plussed over the situation. It reminds me of the futile pursuit by Mr. Preysing that has plagued me these last few months.Dr. Otternshlang: Is that the mincing fop who has constantly posted inappropriate missives that asked such embarrassing personal questions?Grusinskaya: No. He is that gruff businessman who seems only interested in commerce, not emotions. I am afraid that the offending correspondence originated with Mr. Kringelein his bookkeeper. He seems such a harmless sort, but when he puts his thoughts on paper they seem to wander to strange and unsightly places.Dr. Otternshlang So how did Mr. Preysing pursue you if not through correspondence?Grusinskaya: Oh he corresponds with me, but in very curt and graphic notes of one or two sentences in which he requests certain sexual acts that as a lady I can’t repeat.Dr. Otternshlang: You seem to inspire many strange admirers.Grusinskaya: Yes I suppose it is because I am truly an artist. Come see my wonderful photos from my recent trip. Here is my urination series. A dog peeing in the ocean. A vagrant peeing as he sleeps on a park bench. Children peeing down a mountain as they play king of the hill. I am afraid it is true; all the world is a urinal, while I futilely search for a bidet.Dr. Otternshlang You are truly a philosopher. It is an honor to dine on the crumbs from your table. Would you like to take a picture of me while I pee.Grusinskaya Certainly not doctor, it is so rude of you to ask.Dr. Otternshlang: Lesbian.(Grand Hotel, 1932)

back to wine for a momentto answer richard dolan...as a cockroach you must realize that the only winei get is what is spilled or in an uncorked bottle when nobody is lookingthe man of the house here is very serious about his winemom on the other hand is a really great cookbut is perfectly happy with sutter home in a boxas long as it's cheap and reasonably dryoh and did i say cheap...she hates sweet wine which rules out almadenher fave french wine is some cheap sancerrewhich tells you a lot right thereand don't forget the cheap partanyway dad subscribes to wine magazines and spends a lotof money at this fancy wine store in brooklinewhich drives mom nuts because tommy never seems to have enoughmoney for video games not to mention other things like painting the house

they had company over the other night and mom cooked some poached salmonwith a sauce i don't know the name of but which was to die forand dad opened a bottle of '94 chateauneuf de papethe guests were the sales manager at dad's company and a really important clientturned out the really important client had his own wine cellarwith 1900 bottles of really important french winethe really important client was having a lot of funmaking dad feel really unimportant talking about all the grand vinssaid really important client has stashed away

now i don't want to be a disagreeable cockroachbut i do have to disagree with mr dolan a bitit looks to me like dad's wine magazines are about nothingif not about promoting trendiness and snobbishnessalso you should realize that here in cambridge masspeople are not used to choosing not to mention thinking for themselvesin the social class dad and mom seem to want to belong toeverything repeat everything is a spectator sportand they keep scoreoh do they keep score

So the 'roach is drinking spilled wine? Reading through your post, the root of the problem was soon clear: "here in cambridge mass ...." So many strange customs and oddball opinions in that part of the world. (Having grown up in Salem, I know how dire a problem that can be.)

The only other mention I remember seeing about drinking spilled wine was in The Tale of Two Cities, where a cask breaks open on a Paris street and the locals all emerge from whatever dark corner they were hiding in and start lapping it up. Perhaps you picked up the spilled wine habit from some ancestor 'roach who (does a 'roach qualify as a who?) was there. For Dickens, it was just a little foreshadowing of the troubles to come, what with the mess on the cobblestones and all. Sounds like you're in it for more basic reasons (taste, sustenance, mind-altering experience, trendy confirmation of one's social standing), foreshadowing be damned.

And there's no such thing as an "important wine." Tell your Dad. I'm sure he'll be delighted to know that his little 'roach has figured it all out.

Reader: I saw that on Volokh too. And to my immense amusement - remember where I'm actually from - my inner European is apparently -- of all things -- French. My innner Sir Humphrey may never speak to me again.

oopssometimes i just go on automatic pilot when i typewhole body memory and all thati wrote chateauneuf de pape with salmonnot a chancewhat i meant was puligny montrachetduhand then dad tried to impress the very important client with a bottle of cakebread chardonnaynice buttery california chardonnay but it lacks balance said the very important clientthere went 60 dollars shot to hell said dad later

dad opened the chateauneuf de pape the other nightmom said why are we drinking this...dad said because i've had a hard day and i feel like treating myselfand mom said you're drinking this with spaghetti and meatballsand dad said damn rightand mom said go right ahead i'm having the sutter home cab in the box

mom did get upset enough to spatter some nice sauce under the stoveyum

well about sancerre not being cheap..mom is half french where she gets her cooking talentsand cheapnessshe knows somewhere to get sancerre cheapbut it's very horrible sancerretastes like chateau antifreeze to mebut then again it's usually been on the tablecloth a while

one more thing and i'll shut upthe only one in the family i can communicate with is tommythe boy who owns this computeri help him with his homework and he helps me with the pcactually it's an applehe thinks and i'm sure he's rightthat if he told his parents about methey would call an exterminator--shudder--

Mr. Kringelein: Good evening fraulien, I wonder if you had received my recent missive as regards to color we should order for your carpet. I know that aesthetics are so very important to you and would not like to commit a faux pas.Grusinskaya: I am afraid that is a very personal guestion and I feel uncomfortable discussing this with you. Please cease and desist in sending these troubling notes, they give me an uncomfortable feeling. I just want to be alone.Flaemmchen: Come, come my silly goose. You must not answer this rude boy. If you do, as god is my witness, I will never speak to you again.Mr. Kringelein: Well then I will leave you alone and I appolgize if I gave any offense. I just had the foolish feeling that I was your favorite correpondent. I am devestated by your disapproval.Grusinskaya: Fear not my friend, I care for you, just not in that way. I have lost my heart to Prince Nicolo D’Fellini, a red haired and well tanned prince of Piedmont who is my own true love. No one could replace him in my heart.Mr. Kringelein: Nevertheless, farewell.Flaemmchen: Thank God that foolish little man is gone. No quickly tell me about this love of your live. An Italian I see.Grusinskaya: Yes, you see I like my men as I like my décor, robust and italianate and it’s a bonus if they are named Rocco or any other Italian surname. Thus my carpets will not be oriental, but from Tuscany with a bold flare of red and taupe.Flaemmchen; Who cares what color they might be, the question is how do they taste on the tongue.Grusinskaya: Lesbian.(Grand Hotel, 1932)

My comment regarding the wingnut awards is of course powerline won and malkin took second.

Powerline called Bush brilliantandMichelle Malkin put on a cheerleader outfit on and spelled defeatocrats-is there any contest between those two and the rest of the wingers? They are in a class by themselves.

I tell you Ann, someone suggested you pose in a tub with soap bubbles over your nipples on a videoblog. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to see you on a videoblog nude...no tub or bubbles or whatever. Think you can arrange that ?

Flaemmchen: My dear Grusinskaya, why are you trembling so.Grusinskaya:I have just received a telegram from the Baron and it very, very troubling.Flaemmchen: Why is that?Grusinskaya: He has requested that I send him a tintype for his private collection.Flaemmchen: That doesn’t sound so terrible.Grusinskaya: But he requests that I send it sans garments; he wishes to gaze upon my nakedness to inflame his burning lust. Who knows how this will turn out, who knows what this will drive him to do.Flaemmchen: Well just send him a piquant shot of you in a languid pose upon your bed under that beautiful bed crown with a full view of your room.Grusinskaya: Why would I do that?Flaemmchen: You could satisfy some of his curiosity. Didn’t he ask you if the carpet matched the drapes?Grusinskaya: No that was another of my admirer’s.Flaemmchen: Well from the evidence extant on you bidet we know that this is truly not the case, eh? Ha, Ha, Ha.Grusinskaya: (Muttered under her breath) Lesbian.(Grand Hotel, 1932)